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[TES Lore] Lorekhan #5: White-Gold and the Fourth Era

“Now, as the Empire rots under its own corruption, our opportunity arises. We, with our ancient wisdom and clear purpose, have the advantage. Together, Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit will fight back the evils rooted in the Empire, quiet the unruly hordes of the Ebonheart Pact and Daggerfall Covenant, and usher in a shining age of reason, culture, and peace.

Stand with us.” –Dominion Handbil

Welcome back to Lorekhan! This time, we will be covering just about the darkest period in Tamriel’s history: the Fourth Era. This era began with ending of the Oblivion Crisis, but that was just the start. Many of the things that had stayed relatively the same for at least a millennium start to change in this era, and not quite for the better.

Any paragraphs containing spoilers for the main games will be marked with an orange [SPOILERS] tag, to help you avoid them.

Fallout: Morrowind

4E 5: [Possible SPOILERS for TES III: Morrowind]Vivec, the last member of the Tribunal, vanishes, and with him, the primary faith that the Dunmer held for a long time. Another thing that went with him, though, is the stasis magic on the asteroid (also known as the Ministry of Truth) held above the city of Vivec. The magic did not actually diminish the original momentum, merely froze the rock in time, essentially. So, once the spell holding it is gone, it’s ready to reorganize the city, which was bothersome to navigate in the first place. In other words, WHAT THE FU– BOOOOOOOOOOM!

4E10: The asteroid mini-criting Vivec then causes Red Mountain to join in on the festivities, and detonate itself.Vvardenfell and much of the coastal area of Morrowind is destroyed by this event, and the Argonians do not miss the opportunity this grants them against the Dunmer. The Redorans are having none of this, and manage to stop the Argonian forces.

4E 10-29: The Potentate is assassinated, and just about everything that happens in the Fourth Era, you can pretty much always blame it on Thalmor. The Elder Council returns to its favorite passtime — sissy-fighting — until Titus Mede captures the Imperial City and names himself Emperor in 4E 17. Orsinium also had some fun times in 4E 11, with Hammerfell and High Rock showing up uninvited. The orcs flee to Skyrim. This is the start of many of the events that happen hereafter, such as the rebirth of the Aldmeri Dominion in 4E 29.

Aldmeris Universalis IV

4E 29:The Thalmor do a bunch of sneaky BS — like they always do — and cause a civil war in Valenwood. They push the Imperial control out of Valenwood using hugely clever attacks they planned with information from their huge spy network. This is how the modern Aldmeri Dominion begins.

4E 98-115: The two moons of Nirn decide to pop-off and vanish. My theory is that BBC America had something to do with it, but either way the moons appear two years later, and the Thalmor take credit for it and use it to wrest Elsweyr from Imperial control, being that the moons are a really big deal to the itteh bitteh Khajiit kitteh commiteh. Elswey later divides into two factions, and the Aldmeri make them into client states.

4E 168-175: At this point, Cyrodiil, Skyrim and High Rock are the few regions that are not totally fishbonked. This is when Titus Mede II comes to his Emperorship, and he gives the bird to the Aldmeri Dominion when they demand that the Empire go hide in a UHaul box, essentially. The Dominion sends two armies into Cyrodiil, and eventually the Imperial forces retreat, some into the Alik’r desert, and the other branch, — Titus Mede II’s army — meets up with Skyrim’s Imperial forces. The Dominion takes the Imperial City and wrecks the place and its peoples, but Titus Mede II returns four years later to get payback — with interest.

4E 175: The destruction of the Aldmeri forces in Cyrodiil is costly for the Empire, though, and the Emperor sues for peace, in a treaty known as the White-Gold Concordat. This outlaws the worship of Talos throughout the Empire, and disbands the Blades. Hammerfell was having non of this — much if its land was given to the Dominion in the Concordat — and became its own independent state, fighting the Dominion out of its lands.

The Empire as it Stands

[SPOILERS for TES V: Skyrim] 4E 201 is when the events of TES V: Skyrim take place. Depending on what the Dragonborn achieved in your game, Skyrim may or may not be one of the last regions where the Empire still exists. The Dominion and the Thalmor are an ever-growing, devious and powerful thread to the Empire, but I doubt many think of them as good guys. It remains to be seen the role the dragons play in this. To me it seems likely that at least some of them may assist the Empire, and remember that the Dragon God of Time, Akatosh, has had a great involvement in the Empire itself.

Sorry this was a shorter episode, I had expected to be able to fit more into here about the fall of the Empire. Regardless, please comment, and if you have recommendations or corrections to make, please leave them here or on the reddit comments. Remember to like, follow and/or subscribe to show support and be notified when new stuff from us is published!